Afghanistan's rapid collapse stokes anger within the army's elite SAS regiment, with some soldiers feeling they have been mistreated since the release of a damning war crimes inquiry.
www.abc.net.au
I'm fully aware of the controversy of the subject and the care that has to be taken with various media, but the above is certainly troubling if it is indeed true.
It doesn't appear to be doing Defence any favours internally to be forcing out people out based on which unit they have been or are a part of. If it is true, I'm afraid morale and retention in the rest of army may fall further.
On the other hand I'm skeptical this may be another media hit piece, blowing the issue out of proportion.
I haven't been able to find the 'The Piecemeal Destruction of Australia's Special Missions Unit' anywhere to read for a more objective view.
Meh - the crocodile tears are hard to stomach. Or honestly care about.
SAS bleating the Cdo are taking over? (a), that was happening the other way a decade ago. (b) who cares? Most of the positions don't need a qualified operator in, and the senior ones are beyond unit and tactical things. So it's irrelevant.
An anonymous soldier that can't get terminology correct? Righto.... Either not a real soldier, or too junior to actually know what they are talking about.
Large discharge rates? Wouldn't be something to publicly comment on, there'd only be a couple of people who who'd know the actual rates (anecdotes don't count - there was an artillery unit a couple of years back who had 'dozens' of discharges - it was 3) and who knows the reasons. There are many reasons to leave.
Misunderstanding of administrative, legal and civil legal actions remains constant. They are three different systems that operate independently. People need to stop conflating them. Yes - you can have admin action taken against you without DFDA or legal action...
Be careful making too many links between forcing SF soldiers out because they aided or abetted war crimes and the wider, in uniform Army being upset. As much as I like TPE et al - it isn't the mouthpiece for most of Army.
Three Majors didn't get picked up? Oh noes! Over 30 Major's didn't get picked up last year within Canberra alone. There are any number of reasons not to get picked up to LTCOL - some are fair and some aren't. But welcome to DOCM - it's not a new thing.
Don't get me wrong - I agree with one thing in that article. But not for the reasons the letter writer thinks....